Preventing Strokes

By E Douglas Kihn, OMD, LAc, CPT

Stoke is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., right after heart disease, cancer, and iatrogenic (doctor-caused) accidents. Many survive the first stroke, only to suffer eventually from a fatal one.

What is a stroke?

A stroke, also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is a sudden decease in the blood supply to part of the brain (an ischemic attack), damaging the area so it cannot function normally. Symptoms vary according to the site of brain damage. They include difficulty with speech or movement, paralysis, loss of consciousness, decrease of sensory ability (vision, hearing, etc.), confusion, dizziness, headaches, and loss of bowel and bladder function.

Like most medical problems, there are probably “stroke genes” that can make you susceptible to having a stroke, and as is usually the case, these genes can be expressed early or late (past 100 years of age), depending on the choices you make. According to Western medical theory, the causes of a sudden ischemic event in the brain are: a narrow or closed artery to the brain (thrombosis); a small part of a diseased blood vessel that travels to the brain (embolism), causing blockage; or a rupture of a blood vessel in the brain (cerebral hemorrhage).

Wei Syndrome

The name for stroke in Chinese Medicine is Wei Syndrome, also known as wind phlegm. Wind is the name for sudden, unpredictable, and uncontrolled movement. As this wind enters the brain, it disturbs the normal flow of fluids, causing phlegm to form. Phlegm is sticky and stubborn, and in combination with the wind, will block blood and qi (energy) flow to the brain and other parts of the body. This blockage of blood and qi is responsible for a chronic loss of sensory and motor functions.

One reason we call it phlegm is that some of the same herbs and acupoints that remove visible phlegm in the lungs will also successfully treat this invisible phlegm. But phlegm is very stubborn and hard to get rid of, and preventing its formation in the first place is far preferable to treating it after the fact.

Phlegm, damp, wind, and fire

Let’s begin by looking at the causes of phlegm and wind. Phlegm is normally the result of excessive heat that dries and concentrates body fluids. A contributing cause of phlegm would be excessive damp, since phlegm is more easily generated from excessive fluid.

Damp is the result of a weak digestion, and is practically synonymous with food stagnation. Signs of a weak digestion and damp include excess body fat, eating without hunger, food allergies and intolerances, high levels of blood cholesterol, and hardened arteries (atherosclerosis). The latter condition can lead to thrombosis.
The more serious cause is excess internal heat. Heat will rise, and severe heat (fire) will rise suddenly into the upper body and especially the head. This fire can burst a blood vessel in the head, causing a cerebral hemorrhage. Fire and wind can also rip off part of a diseased blood vessel (phlegm), sending it to the brain and causing an embolism. The sudden rising of fire will generate wind, and the heat will concentrate fluids into more phlegm.

Heat/fire and damp/phlegm are two of three causes of high blood pressure (hypertension). People with chronic hypertension are, without a doubt, prime candidates for strokes. I recommend that you take a look at a previous article of mine titled “Preventing Hypertension” on this same blog site.

The common forms of fire that lead to strokes are liver fire and heart fire. Liver fire is evidenced by bouts of extreme and inappropriate anger, while heart fire is generated by too much activity and not enough “down time.” As such, “rage-aholics” and “workaholics” are most likely to experience a cerebral hemorrhage in their lifetimes, especially if these heat patterns are allowed to continue past the age of 40.

Many years ago I treated a patient who suffered from eyestrain as an artist. He was in his late thirties. One day while working at his easel, his wife interrupted him with something and he flew into a rage. Suddenly, a tiny blood vessel in one eye burst, causing a rose pattern in his field of vision. I used acupuncture to successfully eliminate it, but I told him that this was a warning from his body to get a handle on his rage before wind fire might someday burst a vessel in his brain and cause a stroke. I hope he took my advice.
Severe heat carried in the body for years will gradually weaken the body’s own cooling mechanisms (kidney/liver yin). When yin can longer hold down the yang (heat), the result is rising fire. This is one reason why most stroke sufferers are older. It takes years to wear down the body’s yin. Another reason is that usually only after a long time will phlegm (plaque) accumulate on the insides of blood vessels sufficiently to cause severe constriction or decomposition.

Preventative measures

1. Get calm. Don’t accept excessive anger or excessive activity as normal. Let go of worry. Get counseling for yourself or your family. Practice meditative exercises regularly, like tai chi, qi gong, yoga, or meditation. Don’t use sedatives like alcohol (bottled damp heat), nicotine (blood vessel pollution) or food (damp/phlegm) in place of the hard work required to confront your demons.

2. Avoid heavy use of stimulants that are a major cause of pathogenic heat. Caffeine, cocaine, methamphetamine and the like have all been known to set off fire and wind.

3. Get lean and stay lean, but remember that the leaner you get, the less yin you will have to hold down the yang, hence the necessity of getting calm by natural means.

4. Minimize internal pollution. Guard the health of your blood vessels by getting lean, quitting a daily smoking habit, reducing blood cholesterol levels, and limiting the quantity of salts and other chemicals in your food, air, and water.

5. Monitor your blood pressure. Keep it within normal limits by natural means, if possible.